OK, I'm planning on another ride on 17th June. I'd be interested to hear feedback from recumbent riders who braved the rain to do the Brighton ride on how they found it. I have heard that it's not particularly recumbent friendly in places, especially for trikes.

If we keep our starting point as SOP, then another option would be to head west along the Parramatta river cycle way. I haven't ridden this way (other than a short stretch towards Silverwater), so again I'd be interested on feedback on its recumbent suitability.

Failing other suggestions, I recommend we revert to my original plan of starting at Hornsby and riding to Pie-in-the Sky. This is an easy uninterrupted run with light traffic on Sunday morning. For the more energetic of us, we can continue on down to Brooklyn and then climb back up to the cafe. This adds about 8km to the 40km round trip to Pie.

Rain or not you missed a good day, I especially enjoyed riding each others recumbents, as they all so vastly different in their own way. I'm voting for the Hornsby run, "on any Sunday" Just let me know.

Craig

Welcome to the dark side of biking - "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." - Sirius Black (The Order of the Phoenix)

LOL , yes I had a very wet tongue in a very wet cheek. It took 3 days to dry everything out.. BUT I would not have missed it - last Sunday was a great ride.Am keen for anther ride...Some other options:- loop around SOP to Parramatta north & south sides.- the rail trail from Parra to Liverpool- Loop Prospect - Fairfield - Abbotsbury - water canal- Bella Vista - Windsor

Miles Sprocket has kindly offered to lead a rerun of the ride down to Brighton - he suggested the 21st June which is a Thursday, but I presume he means the 24th which is the Sunday. Anyway, I'm locking the 24th in.

I am also planning a ride for this weekend 17th June. Current options are;

SOP to Parramatta via the cycle way as suggested by Blackcat. I quite like the idea of this, as it's an area I haven't ridden. Would need someone (Blackcat?) to lead.

Hornsby to Pie in the Sky/Brooklyn. I know this one well and will be happy to lead.

If all else fails, a friend and I will probably do the three gorges (Galston, Berowra, Brooklyn). Anyone who likes hills and can cope with my painfully slow pace on the uphill bits welcome to join.

Forecast for pretty much all of Sydney is for rain on Saturday, clearing to a chance of showers on Sunday, so fingers crossed it should be OK.

I'm up for the Hornsby - Brooklyn Hill - Pie in the Sky - Hornsby ride on Sunday too, just need a start time (8am?) and meeting place (I'd suggest Hornsby Park opposite Coronation Street). Assuming the ride is on my plan would be to ride to the meeting place from North Strathfield, via Brown's Waterhole, Kissing Point Road and back roads from Turramurra to Hornsby. If anyone will be heading a similar way I'd be happy to meet up en route.

I'd also be up for something a but hillier, if there is enough interest. It might be worth noting that Bike North are running their Banana Pie ride (Turramurra to Pie in the Sky return, via Bobbin Head in both directions), nothing to stop a few recumbent riders tagging along with that.

Well, turnout was modest (just myself, David and, for the first half hour, Craig) but we had a great Sydney Recumbent Ride anyway. Somewhat better weather than the last attempt anyway, sunny and calm though a bit on the cool side. I arrived at the start a little late but once we set off the run out along the Old Pacific Highway was ridden at a good, brisk pace. During the climb towards Mount Colah an overtaking car slowed down as it drew level with David and matched his speed for a few moments before driving off, apparently in order to get a good look at the 'funny bicycle'. I learnt later that the occupants had been taking photos too! Roads still damp from earlier rain required a rather cautious descent of the Brooklyn hill but also appeared to have deterred much of the usual motorbike traffic which made for a fairly peaceful climb back up again to Pie in the Sky. We arrived at the cafe just as the Bike North 'Banana Pie' group ride did, it was good to have plenty of people to chat with during our coffee stop but our timing wasn't quite ideal as they'd already formed a big queue at the counter before we could get there. I guess we should have climbed the hill just a little bit quicker The ride back to Hornsby (also brisk) was followed by some further enjoyable bike chat before we went our separate ways.

It was an interesting experience riding with other recumbents, especially with one very similar to my own. Aside from my short, solo commutes all my riding is done with groups on road bikes so I am accustomed to pushing hard up hills, cruising on level ground and coasting or even riding my brakes down hill in order to adjust the natural speed profile of my bike to match theirs. It took me a little while to shake that habit and 'ride like a recumbent' instead, keeping the pace high on level ground and taking full advantage of down hill sections to build momentum to help me up the next rise. It's not like I didn't already know how to ride like that, I'm just not used to doing it together with other bikes.

Yes, it was indeed a small and select group of discerning recumbent pilots gathered on Sunday morning. Weather was fortunately very different from Saturday – as Anthony noted, sunny, calm and cool. A friend of mine was keen to join this ride, but convinced himself that it was going to rain all weekend anyway, so took himself off for a ride on Saturday. Spent four hours in the pouring rain….

I thought the pace was fairly easy on the way up the highway, although it was clear from the outset that Anthony’s featherweight carbon creation, together with his much younger and stronger legs were impressively fast. Even more so considering that he had already covered more than 25km on the way to the start, including the challenging Col de Kissing Point Rd and its 17% of joy . I did fear the worse when that car pulled alongside me on the highway – expecting the usual tirade of abuse, but when I looked across it was a smiling face and a camera I saw. Obviously two highracers and a trike were so unusual she needed a picture to prove it really happened.

We said our goodbyes to Craig at Mt Kuringai where he turned back to meet some family commitments. The pace moved up a notch as we continued up the highway and we passed a few riders along the way. The run down to Brooklyn certainly warranted care as the road was quite wet. Surprised to note from Strava that we still averaged nearly 50kph down the hill. The climb up was actually very pleasant. The cool weather meant temperatures were very comfortable and there was very little traffic. We saw a few bikes heading down the hill, but only one on the way up. At the start of the climb, Anthony had quickly pulled out a 50 metre lead and then politely eased off to maintain that distance for the rest of the way, so he was the first to pass a chap at about halfway, with me catching him a few minutes later. As I went past, he exclaimed, “My God, another one!..” to which I replied, “No, you’re hallucinating..” One recumbent gets noticed. Two in a row obviously creates quite a stir..

It was pleasant chatting to the Bike North group at the Pie in the Sky, but cold sitting in the shade. I was glad to get back on the road and into the sunshine. It must have been my cold numbed brain that caused me to forget to restart the timer on my garmin for the return leg. I was reminded after about 5km by an indignant beeping as it went into auto power down mode. We continued to crack along at a pretty good pace, although Anthony really opened the taps towards the end and forged quite a way ahead. I think he pulled us both along pretty well though, as I was surprised to note that my average for the ride including the climb out of Brooklyn was just a shade under 30kph.

This is my first experience of riding with another recumbent as well, and I have to say it was lots of fun. Riding with ‘standard’ bikes, I’m used to being left on the hills, but the usual ‘reel them in on the flat and roll away on the downhills’, certainly didn’t happen .

Many thanks to Anthony and Craig for the company. Look forward to doing it again soon.

Thanks for this Mr Sprocket This sounds like an interesting ride and I'm keen. Currently have a few things to confirm for the weekend, but if they all work out I'll be there. Will confirm later in the week.

rdp_au wrote:Thanks for this Mr Sprocket This sounds like an interesting ride and I'm keen. Currently have a few things to confirm for the weekend, but if they all work out I'll be there. Will confirm later in the week.

Well, it was another select group assembled at Meadowbank Wharf on Sunday morning for the second iteration of the recumbent get together. It had been a decidedly chilly trip to the start, on what I suspect was the coldest day in Sydney this year. My garmin was registering 5 deg as I wheeled the bike out of the garage at 7, and speeding down Kissing Point Rd in 4 deg was positively freezing. Passing through Brown’s Waterhole there were still touches of frost on the ground. At the start, we had an eclectic collection of machinery and riders prepared to brave the frigid conditions – there was Colin and his lovely poetry in carbon VK2, Rolf and his hugely impressive and completely self-built fully suspended carbon midracer with moulded foam tailbox, and me, with the sole non-carbon entrant, the aluminium Corsa. No steel in this group! The planned route was over Rhodes bridge, through Sydney Olympic park and then following the bike path along the south side of the river and under the M4 motorway. This would take us out to Parramatta for coffee at a café on the riverbank.

There were a few twists and turns, but the route was generally recumbent friendly. I was impressed at Colin’s ability to manoeuvre the low and lean VK2 through some of the tighter sections. The combined impact of three very different looking recumbents travelling together created quite a reaction. Cheers from some people, while others just stared in amazement. There was very little traffic and the relaxed pace made for a very pleasant trip, even though it was still decidedly cool. Arriving at Parramatta we found ourselves a sunny patch at the aptly named Scrumptious café, where the food was good, but the service quite slow. Not that we minded too much, as we had some serious recumbent chatting to do. Suitably refuelled, and with the temperature at a heady 11 deg, we set off for the return leg. This was via the northern side of the river, again mostly on bike paths. Some care was needed as there was now a bit more pedestrian and bike traffic, but we were still able to work up to a reasonable pace for fairly extended periods. It was very pleasant rolling along in the sunshine beside the river.

Many thanks to Rolf for leading the way and to both of them for the company and interesting discussion. We are keen to make the Recumbent Ride a regular occurrence, so stay tuned.

sorry for bumping an old(ish) thread, but i thought i would chime in here.

i am just about to take delivery of my new recumbent trike (in about 2 weeks actually )i would be very happy to meet up for rides with other Sydney based recumbent riders once i get the trike.

this will be my first recumbent. been thinking about getting one for a number of years, finally decidedto jump in the deep end and bought a HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS. it's taken me about 6 months of saving,and i am finally about to see the reward for all of the cost cutting......

G'day Jason,I can make myself available on most Sat/Sun ( except July 21/22) for an informal get together.Let me know what type of ride you are interested in ie kms, time, hills, flat, fast, slow etc.The only parameter that is not for negotiation is the coffee stop.Cheers, M